In a new report published by Switzerland’s Federal Council, regulators claim that the “economic importance of virtual currencies as a means of payment is fairly insignificant at the moment.” The report claims that bitcoin and other digital currencies will have a marginal effect on the Swiss economy for the “foreseeable future,” and no influence on…
The New York Post reported today that the NASDAQ, one of the largest stock exchanges in the world, is quietly building a bitcoin exchange. With regulators at the New York Department of Financial Services widely expected to publish new rules for bitcoin exchanges by the end of summer, the tech-friendly NASDAQ is in a strong…
In March, San Francisco-based bitcoin payment startup ZipZap was forced to halt its ambitious plan to bring retail-level bitcoin-buying to a huge network of brick-and-mortar businesses. As the price of bitcoin became increasingly erratic following the collapse of Mt.Gox and the fear that Chinese authorities were on the verge of banning cryptocurrencies, ZipZap’s payment processing…
With a population of just under 100,000, you might not expect that the tiny island of Jersey would be a major hub for international business. Yet, almost half of the island’s £3.7 billion annual national income originates in the financial services sector. Like many self-governing island nations, Jersey has made an industry of creating very…
BTC China CEO Bobby Lee has been at the front lines of the People’s Bank of China’s (PBoC) efforts to suppress bitcoin right from the start. Through it all, he’s managed to keep his exchange open even as his competition has scaled back their operations, changed their business models or closed completely under PBoC pressure….
In a move aimed at protecting its national currency, the boliviano, Bolivia’s central bank official prohibited the use of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies today. Although the policy was created by El Banco Central de Bolivia back in early May, it has only recently become known to the general public following a story by Spanish-language news…
Japanese lawmakers announced yesterday that they would not be implementing regulations on bitcoin or other virtual currencies for the time being. The announcement from Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the ruling government party in the country’s Parliamentary system, won’t be official policy until additional hearings are completed. Speaking with Reuters, LDP lawmaker Takuya Hirai said:…
Latin America-focused bitcoin payment processor BitPagos raised $600,000 in its first round of seed funding. Investors included well known bitcoin advocates Tim Draper and Barry Silbert, as well as contributions from venture capital funds Pantera Capital and the Boost Bitcoin Fund. BitPagos participated in the Boost VC accelerator program last year, where it raised over…
Although the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust is still making its way through the SEC maze, the “Winklevii” do have some good news to share. The duo’s “blended bitcoin price index,” better known as the WinkDex, was added to the official Bloomberg price ticker today. Bloomberg subscribers can view the index under the symbol WINKBTCO. While the…
Digital River may not be as well known as PayPal, but the Minnetonka, Minnesota, online payment processor is a giant in the world of business-to-business payments. The company processed $30 billion in online transactions in 2013, with most of that coming from very large clients like Microsoft, Spotify, Logitech, Trend Mirco and Citrix. Although it…